Chapter 22 - Sarah stops being indispensable
Sarah did not like this chapter.
She would have preferred:
Sarah Saves Everything Forever.
No.
After the case, I realized Leo depended too heavily on one caregiver.
Me and Sarah.
If either disappeared, his world narrowed.
So we hired another experienced nanny.
Joanna Reed.
Forty-one.
Pediatric-care background.
Sarah objected.
“He knows me.”
“That is why we are doing it.”
“You’re replacing me?”
“No.”
Her face changed.
Interesting.
Even Sarah had identity invested.
Katherine’s death.
Leo.
Being the one who knew.
We talked.
She cried.
Then admitted:
“If he stops needing me, I don’t know what I am in this house.”
There.
Human.
I said:
“You are Sarah.”
“That is an annoyingly therapeutic answer.”
“I pay enough for therapy.”
She laughed.
Joanna started two mornings a week.
Leo hated her.
Then tolerated.
Then smiled.
Sarah took Saturdays off.
For the first time in years.
She enrolled in a household-management certification program because apparently she believed normal leisure was suspicious.
By year two she became estate operations director.
Less direct childcare.
More training.
Safeguarding.
Staff management.
Still close to Leo.
But not responsible for every nap.
That was healthier.
The backup card made her famous inside our family.
I refused to let it become myth.
At a staff meeting someone said:
“Sarah saved Leo.”
Sarah answered:
“I found evidence after I should have spoken sooner.”
Then:
“And Ethan’s son had doctors, security, police, and a father. No one person saved him.”
Good.
Leo eventually called her:
Sa-sa.
Then Sarah.
Then at three:
Boss Sarah.
May you like
Accurate.
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